Music

Aoife O’Donovan is best known for her work with the bluegrass band Crooked Still and the folk trio Sometymes Why. She’s also performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra and appeared on Yo-Yo Ma’s 2011 record The Goat Rodeo Sessions. But this past summer, she went in a new direction and released her first solo record, Fossils. For O’Donovan, the move was all about timing.

Amy Obenski is used to doing things out of order. She went to music school as a child, only to get a 9-to-5 job as an adult, which made her realize she wanted to forsake a steady paycheck in favor of making music. She's been doing that for 12 years now. But instead of working from her longtime home of Santa Cruz, she decided to fly to France three years ago and then work her way back. Since then, Obenski has built a transatlantic following devoted to her emotive, contemplative, folk-rock sound with the help of her new group, The Carbone Band, whom she met in France.

For Marty O’Reilly and his band, The Old Soul Orchestra, there is nothing like playing live shows. “This is a very live-oriented band,” O’Reilly says. “We tend to have a lot of energy that we experience when we’re playing for a crowd, and that really makes us play our best.” The interplay between the band and the audience is evident on their 2012 self-titled live EP.

Tarun Nayar is proud that his band, Delhi 2 Dublin, has a sound that is hard to classify. Hour Magazine once called the Vancouver-based group—which combines elements of hip-hop, electronic, Bhangra and Celtic music into a danceable amalgam—“The United Nations of rock ’n’ roll,” but that only seems to scratch the surface of what makes this quintet so dynamic.

It’s been a bumpy road so far for Santa Cruz band Stomping Grounds. “All our recording equipment is in our garage, and in the middle of the night a pipe burst in our water heater and sprayed all our music equipment,” says Antonio Anzaldua, the band’s vocalist/guitarist. But despite this setback, the rock and soul group remains undaunted in its quest to record a full-length album.

The faint of heart may want to steer clear of The Crepe Place when Tera Melos comes to town on Sunday. The band’s raucous brand of experimental indie rock may prove to be too much to handle.

“Usually one of two things happens,” Nick Reinhart says of the band’s shows. “It’s usually a really interactive crowd with dancing and feeling uninhibited, just a big kind of wave of people doing their own thing.

For Jawsh Anderson and the other members of Santa Cruz’s own Orangegoose, the formation of the band was a long time coming, even if the band members didn’t know it. “We all started out as friends after we met in junior high in a P.E. class,” Anderson says. “We were all music lovers at the time, but we never actually played music together. Then 20 years passed and we all just happened to reconnect in the last few months and started to make some music together.” The band injects a heavy dose of grooves into its infectious brand of rock music. “Shut Up” is a lively, funky number, there is a tinge of the blues on “I Like It That Way,” and “Maybe We Can Make It” was literally made for the dance floor.

For Elena Rossman and Olivia Radovich, music is anything but an insular experience, even if the songs they write tend to be autobiographical. Take, for example, their experience with Kickstarter, which they used to help fund The Beekeepers’ debut EP, a folk/alt-country effort called Hot Air. “The culture of the music industry is changing because of social media,” says Rossman (guitar/vocals).

Jon Foreman never could have imagined that Switchfoot would last for 17 years, much less be as popular as they are today, having won Grammy Awards, released platinum-selling records and consistently charted high on Christian and mainstream rock charts.

“No way, not at all,” laughs Foreman, the band’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. “I’ve been in bands my whole life and I expected to play music my whole life, but to think that we’d still be a band, actually touring, filming and making songs we believe in? This is our ninth album. That’s just mind-blowing for me.”

Jay Ward is not looking to become a big rock star who is all about “the cult of me.” For him, music is far too important for such shallow goals. “Music, to me, is the easiest way of expressing things that words alone can’t say,” says the 17-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist. “When I listen to a really good song or play a song I like, I feel like the world makes sense and I’m seeing it from a new perspective. That’s something I haven’t found anywhere else.”

For an accused Devil worshipper, AFI’s Davey Havok is a damned nice guy

Of all the Halloween-themed tattoos that adorn Davey Havok’s arms—ghosts, witches, jack-o’-lanterns, bats, a black cat—the one that represents him best is the image of The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Jack Skellington. Like that character, Havok has a somewhat macabre exterior that belies his goodhearted nature. As the singer for the alternative rock band AFI, he spins darkly poetic tales of death, despair and betrayal, but offstage, he’s a polite, approachable guy who doesn’t consume animal products, drugs or booze.

Health Screening

Leo Sun; Full Moon, Venus Retro in Leo; Saturn Direct

It’s a complex week of planetary movements, challenges, demands and callings. We’re in the time of the Leo Sun. Leo—fixed fire, gold, the heart, generous, strong, noble, the king/queen—needs appreciation and praise from everyone in order to move forward. During Leo we gain a greater sense of self-identification by recognizing our creativity. It’s therefore a perfect time for Venus retrograding in Leo. In Venus retrograde we review and re-assess values. Venus retro in Leo concerns our self as valuable, acknowledging talents, gifts, abilities and offerings. Friday, Venus re-enters Leo (29 degrees, a critical degree) continuing the retrograde to 14 degrees Leo on Sept. 6.
Friday (Full Moon) is also the (8 degrees) Leo solar festival, Festival of the Future. Leo is the heart of the sun, the heart of all that matters. When attuned to this heart, we have understanding and inclusivity. The heart of the Lion is Mitra (think “Maitreya,” the coming World Teacher). Leo prepares humanity to receive divine love from subtle sources and later to radiate that love to the kingdoms. Sirius, Ray 2, where love originates, streams through Regulus (heart of Leo), into the heart of the sun (Ray 2) and into all hearts. The heart of Leo is Regulus. Joining Venus, the love underlying all of creation appears.
Saturday is Sun/Neptune (confusion or devotion) with late night Saturn turning stationary direct. Ideas, plans and structures held long in abeyance (since March 14) slowly move forward. (Read more on Leo and the week at nightlightnews.org and Risa D’Angeles’ Facebook page, accessed through my website.)

The New Tech Nexus

Community leaders in science and technology unite to form web-based networking program

Holy Cannoli

Is Santa Cruz turning into Malibu North?

It's got a ways to go before it gets wrecked like Malibu, but I think we need to be very careful about growth.
Maria Mattioli, Santa Cruz, Psychotherapist

Bargetto Winery

A much-anticipated annual event at Bargetto Winery is the release of their very special La Vita red wine. June 7 was the day to be heralded this year, and I happily squeezed my car into their overloaded car park in eager anticipation of tasting the new La Vita nectar.